07/21/02
To Undergo Chemo
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne's colon cancer has spread, and she will begin chemotherapy at the end of this month. The forty-nine-year-old wife of Ozzy Osbourne, and matriarch/star of MTV's hit show The Osbournes underwent surgery on July 3rd, and a statement issued on July 9th said that she was expected to make a full recovery. However, this week, Osbourne revealed to People magazine that a lymph node removed at the time of the procedure tested positive for cancer, meaning that the cancer had spread beyond Osbourne's colon.
There is no word yet as to whether Osbourne's three-month chemo treatment will affect this summer's Ozzfest tour. The first two dates of the roving hard-rock festival were postponed when she had surgery.
Plans are for portions of her treatment to be filmed for use in the second season of The Osbournes. The news of her condition came one day after The Osbournes received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Non-Fiction Program (Reality) by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Sharon Osbourne
07/19/02
Injured Arm
Jack Osbourne
Jack Osbourne, the son of heavy-metal legend Ozzy Osbourne and a star of MTV's hit reality show "The Osbournes," jumped off the Malibu Pier with several friends and suffered an arm injury, authorities said.
The 16-year-old, who's a talent scout for a recording company, was on the pier with a film crew Wednesday afternoon when several teenagers jumped off, said Norton Wisdom, a Los Angeles County lifeguard.
"I looked up and there were a bunch of kids doing cannonballs off the Malibu Pier, which is illegal," said Wisdom, who patrols Surfrider Beach.
Lifeguards stabilized Osbourne's arm, took his blood pressure and treated him for mild shock, Wisdom said. A film crew on the pier was operating without a permit and left the area, he said.
Osbourne was taken to Malibu St. John's Urgent Care center for treatment, Wisdom said.
Jack Osbourne
07/18/02
Says Cancer Has Spread
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne's cancer has spread beyond her colon and the wife of the anarchic British rock star Ozzy Osbourne will start a three-month course of chemotherapy at the end of July, she told People magazine in an interview released on Thursday.
Osbourne, 49, who has become a TV star with most of the rest of the family thanks to the hit MTV reality series "The Osbournes," said her prognosis was "very, very good" but that Ozzy Osbourne was "hysterical" when first told the news.
Sharon Osbourne, credited with reviving her husband's career after he was fired from heavy metal band Black Sabbath in 1979, underwent colon cancer surgery on July 3 and her publicist said at the time she was expected to make a full recovery.
But Osbourne told People that one of two nearby lymph nodes removed during the procedure had since tested positive for cancerous cells, indicating the cancer had spread beyond her colon.
"It was not the best news," she told People. "You think nothing will ever happen to you. You're invincible. Then after you get over the shock and panic you realize how lucky you are to be alive.
"That's where I am right now. I simply have to take care of this thing," she said.
Osbourne said she would start three months of chemotherapy on July 29, and that she planned to allow MTV to film the treatment when shooting resumes for the second season of "The Osbournes" -- the show that follows the chaotic daily exploits of the foul-mouthed family.
"People will see me having chemo. It'll be interesting," she said. "We need to get a different vibe going. I think I'll bring some music, introduce myself, maybe we can sing some songs and cheer the place up."
Osbourne said Ozzy, her husband of 20 years, "was hysterical, just terrified," when she told him the news, adding, "The doctor had to come over and sedate him."
Ozzy told People the couple planned to renew their marriage vows on Sharon's 50th birthday on October 9. "I've always had a plan that I'd get sick before she did, that I'd die before she did. But my plan didn't work out....Life has a way of kicking you in the nuts," he said.
Their 16-year-old son Jack was also in the news on Thursday. He hurt his arm after a fall while climbing an empty building on Malibu's derelict pier to prepare to dive into the ocean. A lifeguard who treated him at the scene said Jack suffered only minor injuries.
Sharon Osbourne
07/12/02
Ozzy Osbourne
Somehow, Ozzy Osbourne managed to speak to Queen Elizabeth II without using the F-word at the British monarch's Jubilee.
Ozzy claims he put the epithet "temporarily on hold in my head" and put his tattooed hand in his pocket so as not to offend the crowned curmudgeon.
But when his wife, Sharon, now recovering from colon-cancer surgery, blurted out the offending word to Camilla Parker Bowles, Ozzy reprimanded: "Sharon, watch your language!" Rolling Stone reports.
Bowles, paramour of Prince Charles, quickly responded, "Oh, it's quite all right. We curse quite a lot around here."
Ozzy Osbourne
CTV To Run Uncensored
07/10/02
''The Osbournes''
Rocker's family reality show to make Canadian network debut Sept. 17
The Osbournes will run uncensored on CTV on Tuesdays at 10 p.m., starting Sept. 17, the network has announced.
The reality show, which follows the antics of rocker Ozzy Osbourne, his manager wife Sharon and teenagers Kelly and Jack, has been a hit in the United States and on MTV Canada.
It has been running with "bleeps" to cover up foul language on MTV Canada, but Susanne Boyce, CTV president of programming, said all 10 episodes of Season 1 will run uncensored this fall.
"Some viewers will be surprised by how the Osbournes talk to each other, but coarse language is part of their world," she said in a statement today.
"It's used as they really use it. The heart of The Osbournes is their honesty. Their fights, their love for each other — and their language — is real."
The network said strongly worded advisories about the content will appear throughout each show, and in all print and on-air advertising.
Wayne Sterloff, vice-president MTV Canada, has said his audience demographic for the show is in the 12-17 range, and "we'd never run it without (bleeps)" to cover the family's profanity.
Although, he added, one would have to be "brain dead" not to figure out what is being said.
The series, launched in March in the United States, is also seen in Australia, Brazil, Europe, Germany, Latin America, Netherlands, Nordic, Philippines, Poland and Rusia.
Meanwhile, Sharon Osbourne, 50, has just had surgery for colon cancer at a Los Angeles-area hospital.
Family spokeswoman Lisa Vega said Tuesday that Osborne was "in good spirits and doing well," and added that the disease was in its early stages and doctors expect a full recovery.
Ozzy Osbourne postponed two performances to be with her, but planned to resume his Ozzfest 2002 tour Wednesday night in Scranton, Pa., Vega said.
''The Osbournes'' On CTV
07/09/02
Recovering from Cancer Surgery
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne, the wife and manager of rock star-turned-reality TV hero Ozzy Osbourne, is "in good spirits and doing well" after undergoing colon cancer surgery last week, the couple's publicist said on Tuesday.
A statement said 49-year-old Osbourne's cancer was caught in the "very early stages," and she was expected to make a full recovery.
Details about her whereabouts and medical status were not immediately available. However, her husband of 20 years will resume his headlining slot at the annual Ozzfest rock festival on Wednesday in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Along with her family, the matronly Osbourne has become a pop culture sensation in recent months thanks to the smash MTV reality series "The Osbournes," massive media coverage, and an avalanche of merchandising deals.
The show follows the daily exploits of the foul-mouthed but loving clan: befuddled Ozzy; plain-spoken Sharon; and two of their children, rambunctious teenagers Jack and Kelly. Eldest child Aimee did not participate in the show's first season.
Sharon Osbourne, the estranged daughter of veteran English showbiz promoter Don Arden, is credited with reviving her husband's career after he was fired from heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath in 1979. The union has been a seemingly happy one, apart from a 1989 brawl where a drunken Ozzy, the so-called "Prince of Darkness," tried to strangle Sharon and subsequently spent three months in rehab.
Sharon Osbourne
07/03/02
Sharon Osbourne
MTV reality show star has cancer surgery
Sharon Osbourne, wife of British heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne and co-star of the MTV reality series "The Osbournes," underwent surgery Wednesday for a treatable cancer.
Family spokeswoman Lisa Vega wouldn't say what type of cancer Osbourne has or where the surgery took place, but said it was completed by early evening. No other details were available.
"The Osbournes," the highest-rated program in MTV's history, chronicles the unorthodox home life of Ozzy, Sharon, and two of their three children - 17-year-old daughter Kelly and 16-year-old son Jack. Thursday is the couple's 20-year wedding anniversary.
Vega said the entire family - including their 18-year-old daughter, Aimee, who doesn't appear on the show - were at the hospital with her.
"Everyone is in good spirits because the prognosis is very positive," she said. "The doctors have told them all she's expected to make a full recovery. Obviously, they're concerned for their mother and are by her side, but they're all looking forward to a positive outcome."
Vega said Osbourne would be hospitalized overnight, but was unsure whether her stay would last longer.
MTV released a written statement Wednesday, saying: "We know Sharon will conquer this with the same tenacity and vibrancy she approaches everything else in her life. Our thoughts are with Sharon and the entire Osbourne family and we send her our love and support for a complete recovery."
Until MTV put her family at the forefront of American pop culture, Sharon Osbourne was best known for her behind-the-scenes role as a rock manager and mom. She has masterminded the "Prince of F---ing Darkness' " career, including the mega-successful Ozzfest shows, while tending to bayonet-toting son, Jack, 16, and pink-haired princess cum aspiring pop star Kelly, 17, and oldest child, Aimee, 18, who didn't want to be a part of the series' inaugural season but is rumored to be making an appearance next season. (Ozzy also has an adult son, Louis, from his first marriage.)
Sharon also managed the Smashing Pumpkins until 2000, when she suddenly quit with the now legendary statement: "I must resign today, due to medical reasons--Billy Corgan was making me sick!"
Ozzy and Sharon, the now estranged daughter of the rocker's onetime promoter Don Arden, met in 1979--a tempestuous year for the rocker. Not only was he booted by the legendary metal band he fronted, Black Sabbath, but he was also booted by his first wife, Thelma Reilly, after eight years of marriage.
Three years later, the new couple married in Maui, with Sharon taking over as Ozzy's manager and getting his career back on track. Apart from a 1989 incident in which a binge-drinking Ozzy tried to choke her--an episode that landed him in rehab for three months--the couple have been inseparable...and unstoppable.
It was Sharon who hatched the idea for The Osbournes, after MTV visited the brood for an episode of another series, MTV Cribs. The show has generated the biggest ratings in MTV's history and made the whole family (in)famous.
There's the hit Osbourne Family Album soundtrack, featuring Kelly's cover of Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" (which earned her a record deal), a pair of upcoming books from publisher Simon & Shuster, a barrage of merchandising deals, and even a dinner invitation from President George W. Bush, who was impressed with the clan's family values.
Sharon Osbourne has, like Ozzy, battled drug and alcohol abuse, but has been sober for years. She recently underwent a gastic bypass operation to shrink the size of her stomach. The now slender woman credited the procedure with helping her lose 90 pounds from her once 224-pound bulk.
No word whether her real-life cancer battle will pop up on the tube as a storyline on The Osbournes' second season that Sharon negotiated with MTV for a reputed $20 million.
Filming is supposed to take place at the family farm in England later this summer and the new season will debut in the fall.
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne
07/03/02
Sharon Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne's Wife Undergoes Cancer Treatment
Sharon Osbourne, the wife and manager of rock star-turned-reality TV hero Ozzy Osbourne, has been diagnosed with a treatable form of cancer and will undergo surgery on Wednesday, the couple's publicist said.
A statement issued on Tuesday said she was expected to make a full recovery. The type of cancer was not specified, and a spokeswoman was not immediately available.
"She has the loving support of her husband and three children who are by her side at this time," the statement said.
Along with her family, the matronly Osbourne has become a pop culture sensation in recent months thanks to the smash MTV reality series "The Osbournes," massive media coverage, and an avalanche of merchandising deals.
The show follows the daily exploits of the foul-mouthed but loving clan: befuddled Ozzy, plain-spoken Sharon, and two of their children, rambunctious teenagers Jack and Kelly. Eldest child Aimee did not participate in the show's first season.
Sharon Osbourne, the estranged daughter of veteran English showbiz promoter Don Arden, is credited with reviving her husband's career after he was fired from heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath in 1979. They were married in Maui in 1982. The union has been a seemingly happy one apart from a 1989 brawl where a drunken Ozzy tried to strangle Sharon and subsequently spent three months in rehab.
In addition to managing her husband, the so-called "Prince of Darkness," Sharon Osbourne oversees the hugely successful annual Ozzfest rock festival. The first two stops of this year's incarnation, July 6th in Bristow, VA. and July 7th in Pittsburgh, PA. have been postponed.
Osbourne, who once matched her husband's drink-and-drugs excess, underwent a gastric bypass operation and lost 90 pounds. She reportedly had weighed as much as 224 pounds.
Sharon Osbourne
06/30/02
The Osbournes
The Osbournes may be America's favorite dysfunctional family, but Upper East Side residents have mixed emotions when it comes to welcoming them as possible neighbors.
The Prince of Darkness and his kooky kin have been thwarted in their efforts to buy a $7 million, 48th-floor spread with 360-degree views in the Trump Palace condominium at 200 E. 69th St., owned by Donald Trump. "Their application listed three dogs," said a Trump Palace insider. "The building no longer allows new dogs on the premises. Only the ones that were here when the rules changed can stay."
Sources say Sharon Osbourne appealed to The Donald himself for an exception, to no avail.
So they've turned to music CEO Tommy Mottola - whose Epic label features the Osbourne Family Album - as their ambassador to the neighborhood. Mottola, who owns a massive townhouse on East 64th Street, is said to have made several calls to brokers on behalf of the Osbournes, whose unusual home life has been featured in a top-rated MTV show. But being connected is not always the key to a key on the Upper East Side.
"That television show is outrageous," said one Park Avenue condominium owner. "I've only seen it a couple of times, but the family seems kind of crazy."
Others who reside on the Upper East Side - one of Manhattan's wealthiest neighborhoods - appear more charitable toward the aged rocker and his family.
"He [Osbourne] would certainly cause a lot of excitement in the building," said one resident of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue at 55th Street, who requested anonymity.
Patrick Tierney, the resident manager at tony 515 Park Ave., whose residents include Vivendi CEO Jean-Marie Messier, music producer Antonio "L.A." Reid and Broadway theater scion James Nederlander, is among those who said he would have "no problems" with the Osbournes moving into the building.
Not welcome, he added, would be around-the-clock cameras.
"Filming is definitely not allowed in the building because it would interrupt the lifestyle and comfort of the other residents," Tierney said.
Trump Tower might be a better choice for Ozzy. The building has seen its share of cameras filming the building's many celebrities. It's also where Michael Jackson spent his honeymoon with Lisa Marie Presley. The Osbournes might be tame by comparison.
The Osbournes
06/28/02
Sharon Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne's wife, Sharon, is lashing back at Bill Cosby for calling her clan "a sad, sad family."
"How dare he?" Sharon says in next week's National Enquirer. "Bill Cosby is an old fuddy-duddy from a totally different generation," she adds. "His time has come and gone. He just can't stand to see another family get popular on TV."
Personally, we think Sharon Osbourne would be lucky to shine the Medal of Freedom winner's boots.
But Cosby isn't alone in dissing Ozzy. Fellow Brit rocker David Bowie tells Gear magazine: "Ozzy has become this junk-culture thing. That massive and overwhelming kind of publicity, does that exponentially do anything to the album? You become Pamela Anderson. And you don't actually do anything but you're huge."
Sharon Osbourne
06/27/02
The Osbournes
New York could be getting its own version of "The Osbournes" - if Sharon Osbourne can close a deal for an apartment here.
Sources say the wife of the Prince of Darkness is seriously shopping the East Side of Manhattan for luxe digs large enough to house the family, friends, film crews and terminally unhousebroken pets.
"She was very close to signing a contract," said a real estate insider. "But the deal fell through at the last minute."
The lost deal involved an East 69th Street penthouse apartment with an asking price of nearly $7 million. The 4,000 square foot pad has four bedrooms, a large living room, spacious terraces for the pooches to do their business and a custom gourmet kitchen.
Sharon, the acknowledged financial brains of the family who has made the list of the London Times' 100 wealthiest women in Great Britain - has properties and investments around the world. She is said to be looking to spend up to $9 million for a flat after MTV agreed to pay the family a reported $20 million for another year of their hit show. She is also said to be looking in another of Donald Trump's condominium buildings.
According to brokers, it won't be easy for America's favorite dysfunctional family to score living quarters in any high-rise building, even if it's a condominium - because of their high profile.
The Osbournes
06/25/02
''Ozzy Unauthorized''
'Ozzy Unauthorized," a book by Sue Crawford, drops on us next month. It lists as his Ten Outrageousest Moments:
1. Trying to kill Sharon. In '88 after bingeing on vodka, Ozzy tried to choke his wife, saying, 'We decided you've got to go'. She hit the panic button, cops came and this Wizard of Oz was arrested. He spent three months in rehab.
2. Biting the head off a live bat. '83. Des Moines. A concert. A fan threw a live bat on stage. Thinking it a toy, Dizzy Ozzy bit its head. Talk of going bats, he was rushed to the hospital for rabies jabs.
3. Biting the head off a live dove. 1981. After zapping a fifth of whiskey, he took three doves from his pocket and bit off one head. Security removed him, blood dripping from his mouth, from the CBS building and told him never to return. "It was f- - - - - - great. Tasted like good hamburger," said this sweet TV star.
4. Urinating on the Alamo. San Antonio. Drunk. In drag. Posing for pictures, he decided to relieve himself. "I spotted this old tumbled- down brick wall and thought that would do," recalls Ozzy. Yet again he went into the clink.
5. Shooting his chickens. Told to feed the farm creatures exactly as he arrived home following an exhausting Black Sabbath tour, he flipped, grabbed his shotgun, ran into the garden and blasted every chickie to smithereens. Presumably that's Ozzy's way of unwinding.
6. Killing his cats. So this one nice day of heavy drugging, he lay underneath the piano in a white suit with a shotgun in one hand, (no one thought to take that away from him by now?), knife in the other. President Bush's favorite performer killed all 17 of his pet cats.
7. Trying to kill his siblings. Strangling a brother, setting fire to a sister by pouring petrol on her (obviously, he didn't have that shotgun) and, at 14, stabbing an aunt's kitty cat because he was "bored."
8. After ingesting 900 acid tabs while touring with Black Sabbath, he took seven different drugs one day. It took eight days to come off it.
9. Having his coke delivered in soap powder boxes.
10. Seducing a groupie in front of the missus in Japan. Five hours of drinking sake later, Oz invited a female to his room. Sharon punched the girl and smashed Ozzy's head with a picture frame.
Ozzy's bio is published by Michael O'Mara Books.
''Ozzy Unauthorized''
06/20/02
Cosby's No Fan
Bill Cosby #2
Bill Cosby, who headed America's favorite family in the 1980s on "The Cosby Show," doesn't think much of today's wildly popular reality TV clan, "The Osbournes."
"All of you [media] need to stop with this Ozzy Osbourne," the legendary comedian said in an interview that airs tonight on "Access Hollywood" (WNBC/Ch. 4, 7:30). "This is a sad, sad family. It is a sad case. The children are sad and the parents are sad. And this is not entertainment."
"The Osbournes," which chronicles the home life of the addled heavy metal rocker, his wife and two of their children, became a surprise hit for MTV after its launch in March.
The Osbournes have since become regulars on talk shows, are heavily covered in magazines and have even been praised by conservative politicians who cite them as an example of a loving, united family. They are also guaranteed a $7 million payday from MTV for a second season of episodes.
But Cosby, who portrayed a funny but firm father on the NBC series that was the No. 1 prime-time show for four consecutive years, isn't impressed.
"I'm telling you that ["The Osbournes"] is a sad thing. It's like laughing at Tiny Tim," he said. "It is the kind of entertainment that you look at but wouldn't want in your home. And I don't like to look at things like that."
For those too young to remember, Tiny Tim (Herbert Khaury) was the ghoulish-looking singer and ukulele player who was briefly a TV fixture in the late '60s and had his wedding on "The Tonight Show."
An MTV spokesman had no response to Cosby's remarks.
Cosby is actually an extended member of the MTV family himself these days. Reruns of "The Cosby Show" air in prime time on Nick at Nite, which is part of MTV Networks. The series has become Nick at Nite's highest-rated program.
Bill Cosby #2
06/20/02
Calls Osbournes 'Sad Family'
Bill Cosby #1
Famous TV father Bill Cosby doesn't think much of the home life of his MTV counterpart, Ozzy Osbourne.
"The Osbournes," an inside look at the heavy-metal rocker's home life with his wife, Sharon, and two of their children has become a hit for MTV and the same kind of watercooler show that Cosby's "The Cosby Show" was in the 1980s.
Some observers, including former Vice President Dan Quayle, have called the Osbournes dysfunctional but loving. Cosby thinks less of them.
"This is a sad, sad family. It is a sad case. The children are sad and the parents are sad. And this is not entertainment," the 64-year-old comedian told "Access Hollywood" in an interview airing Friday.
"It is the kind of entertainment that you look at but you wouldn't want it in your home. And I don't like to look at things like that," added Cosby, who played Dr. Cliff Huxtable on "The Cosby Show" for eight seasons.
Bill Cosby #1
06/15/02
Wango Tango
Kelly & Ozzy
Kelly Osbourne is joined by her father, Ozzy Osbourne, following her rendition of Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" at the annual Wango Tango Music Festival at the Rose Bowl
in Pasadena, Calif., Saturday, June 15, 2002. A wide variety of performers including Mary J. Blige, Celine Dion and No Doubt were featured in the all-day music festival.
Photo by Chris Pizzello
Tried to Hang Self as Child
Ozzy Osbourne
Rock rebel Ozzy Osbourne tried to hang himself from a clothes-line during a wild childhood, but was stopped in the nick of time by his angry father, according to a book excerpt released Monday.
"The 14-year-old made a noose out of his mother's clothes-line, put it over his head, fixed the other end securely to a high gate and jumped from a chair," said the excerpt from the new book "Ozzy Unauthorized" by Sue Crawford.
"The teen-ager who was to become one of rock's most outrageous men may have died right there except that he was caught in the act by his father -- who then gave him a sound beating," added the excerpt, published in Britain's The Sun newspaper.
Crawford's book paints a picture of chaos and poverty during Osbourne's upbringing in the central English city of Birmingham.
The British heavy metal rocker, famed for biting off a bat's head on stage, has lately acquired a new cult following due a hit U.S. docu-soap, "At Home With The Osbournes," charting daily life at his Beverly Hills mansion.
Rich and famous at 58 -- he recently sang for Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in London -- Osbourne was so poor as a child he only owned one pair of shoes and socks at a time.
"My mother was an amateur singer, my father was an amateur drunk," he was quoted as saying of his parents.
Having witnessed his father beating his mother, he became violent, at age seven organizing "hanging squads" that terrified other children by stringing them up in the toilets.
He later joined in gang fights with dustbin lids, iron pokers and even once a set of meat cleavers. "I can remember one pitched battle where I deliberately tried to drown some kid. Where I came from it was kill or be killed," he said.
Not surprisingly, Osbourne drank hard. At 17 he ended up in jail for six weeks for breaking into a shop. In prison, to escape a murderer's unwelcome attention, he smashed him over the head with a metal chamber pot, the excerpt said.
Osbourne's love of music came from his mother, who encouraged him to take part in school musicals. But it was the Beatles who were his first direct inspiration.
"If he did not have the money he would simply hide the records under his coat and do a runner," Crawford's book said of Osbourne's desperation to acquire the band's material.
The rocker left school early and worked as a slaughterman, killing 250 cattle a day and cutting the guts out of sheep, the book added. "It fostered his weird reputation for a fascination with animals and death," it said.
Ozzy Osbourne
06/11/02
Ozzy Bank
Dell Furano, CEO of Signatures Network, shows off an Ozzy Osbourne coin bank, an item from the Osbourne collection of products at right, at the Licensing 2002 International show
at New York's Javits Convention Center, Tuesday, June 11, 2002.
Photo by Richard Drew
06/11/02
The Osbournes
Kelly Osbourne is boy crazy. The cherubic 17-year-old spawn of Ozzy has been dating MTV personality Gideon Yago, spies tattle. And at K-Rock's Dysfunctional Family
Picnic on Saturday, Kelly was practically swooning over Julian Casablancas, the dreamy frontman of the Strokes. Kelly's brother Jack - who was perched onstage during
the set by headliner System of a Down - stifled groans at his little sister's lovestruck behavior as he mingled backstage with mom Sharon, Howard Stern and girlfriend
Beth Ostrosky and Mia Tyler.
The Osbournes
06/11/02
In Stores Today
Osbournes Family Album
The Osbournes Family Album In Stores Tomorrow, Family In NYC
The Osbournes Family Album is set for release on Tuesday (June 11), and in support of the album the Osbournes-- Ozzy, Sharon, Kelly, and Jack--will appear and meet fans at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square in New York City.
The songs on the album were all hand-picked by members of the Osbournes family, including Ozzy, who told LAUNCH the reasons behind his choices.
"First of all I chose 'Papa Don't Preach' because it's like I'm handing the torch on to my daughter, who I'm really proud of," he said. "She did such a wonderful job on the Madonna song 'Papa Don't Preach.' And the song, 'You Really Got Me' by the Kinks was, in my opinion, the first-ever heavy metal riff I ever heard. I bought that record as a young guy and I played it to death. 'Imagine' by John Lennon of course it speaks for itself. It's one of the all-time greatest songs written. I think it's fantastic."
Other tunes Ozzy picked were the Cars' "Drive" and Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight."
The disc also contains songs by Dillusion, which Jack Osbourne signed to a record deal; Starsailor; and System Of A Down, among others.
Osbournes Family Album
06/06/02
A Crazy Money Train
The Osbournes
The Osbournes, America's new first family, are planning a big push at the Licensing Show in Gotham, Tuesday through June 13, betting their wacky MTV rocker reality will play well on sleepwear, dartboards, backpacks and a voice-activated plush bear that yells "I'm the f---ing prince of darkness!"
The family and music merchandiser Signature Network said they already have signed up 55 licensees for more than 300 products and are hoping for retail sales of up to $200 million this year. About $10 million-$15 million of that would flow to the Osbournes, according to traditional formulas.
The family's wealth is steadily increasing. MTV recently agreed to pay them up to a reported $20 million for two more years of the hit series "The Osbournes," a record for the Viacom network.
Signature has been working with Ozzy Osbourne for 20 years and inked a deal to represent the family when the MTV series launched earlier this year. Caps, mugs and T-shirts, which merchandisers use to test consumer waters, are already in music retailers like Sam Goody and Musicland. Hot Topic, Gadzooks, Spencer Gifts, Target and Kmart also will carry Osbourne product, Signature CEO Dell Furano said.
Many of the toys talk ("Shut the f--- up and go to bed" and "I'm not cleaning up the dogs---, I'm a f---ing rock star!"); others are edited for a general audience. Lola the dog just wrapped up a photo shoot for a new calendar. Other merchandise includes action figures, socks and key chains.
"Product ideas are already flowing freely from the brains of twisted souls -- the wilder the better," Furano said.
"We're going to do some crazy s---," Ozzy's wife and manager Sharon Osbourne said in a statement.
MTV shares the revenue for products associated with the network show according to a formula Dell called complicated, because "the way they are in real life as the Osbourne family is the same as the way they are on MTV."
Furano, whose firm also represents Britney Spears and presented the Kiss Casket at the Licensing Show last year, said the Osbournes have helped bring music merchandising to new level.
"It's always lagged behind in terms of execution. Now we've put some form to it and built a legitimate music licensing business instead of 'Just pay me the money, and we'll send you the photos when we find some."'
The Osbournes
Wants the Osbournes Treatment
Oasis
Godfathers of Britpop Oasis have joined the stars lining up for the fly-on-the-wall treatment made famous in the hit show "The Osbournes," which followed rock singer Ozzy Osbourne and his family.
Tour-bus footage of the famously foul-mouthed Gallagher brothers has already been released and singer-songwriter Noel Gallagher told music Web site nme.com he is also keen for cameras to film his domestic life.
"That would be fantastic, but how would you have breakfast with the guy with that big furry thing (the microphone boom) and someone running around after him with the cable?" he was quoted as saying.
MTV's profanity-prone show "The Osbournes" gained the highest rating on U.S. cable television last month as 7.8 million viewers tuned in to watch Osbourne's wife threatening to urinate in a whiskey bottle. Since then,
celebrities including topless model Anna Nicole Smith and rapper Sean "P Diddy" Combs have said they want to be filmed.
An Oasis spokeswoman said footage of tour-bus life with the had already been released as a 20-minute DVD recording with the single "Hindu Times" and there was more to come.
After bursting onto the music scene in the early 1990s, Oasis scored UK number ones with their first two albums "Definitely Maybe" and "Morning Glory."
Oasis
06/04/02
On Best Behavior For Queen
Ozzy
Rock wild man Ozzy Osbourne promised to behave himself at Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee pop concert. And he kept his word — sort of.
"I don't want to spend the rest of my life in the Tower," the former Black Sabbath star told the national news agency Press Association before he performed Monday night. "I mustn't drop my trousers, no bad language or perhaps a trap door will open."
The 53-year-old heavy metal icon, who found new fame with the MTV reality series "The Osbournes," once was notorious for having bitten the head off a bat during a 1982 concert. But the much tamer concert at Buckingham Palace was the highlight of his career, he said.
"Absolutely, this means more to me than anything. These last six months, I've had such good fortune land my way," he said. "I keep thinking that sooner or later the bubble will burst. My wife, Sharon, keeps saying, 'You're one of those guys who's not happy unless you find a dark cloud.'"
Osbourne said he thought it was a joke when he heard he'd been invited to play at the palace.
"I'm more surprised than anybody else that I'm here. My wife told me and I thought, 'You're pulling my leg.' Heavy metal at the palace? I'm not sure whether the queen is a fan, but obviously she must be."
His performance was one of the most boisterous of the evening.
As comedian Lenny Henry began to introduce Osbourne, the singer suddenly appeared on stage screaming to the crowd, "Rock 'n' roll! Rock 'n' roll!"
Soon, he was performing the Black Sabbath anthem, "Paranoid," to booming guitars. Racing back and forth across the stage, he chewed gum while singing.
As his song ended and fireworks exploded around the stage, Prince Harry and Prince William, Queen Elizabeth II's grandsons, were clapping above their heads and smiling from the royal box.
Also on the lineup for the show, celebrating the queen's 50 years on the throne, were Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton and Phil Collins.
Ozzy
06/04/02
The Queen Wore Earplugs
The Queen wore ear plugs as stars of the rock and pop worlds performed at the Party in the Palace.
Police say the crowds watching the concert on giant screens in St James park were estimated to be well over a million people.
Dame Edna Everage welcomed the Queen to the concert and called her the "Jubilee Girl".
The Queen took her seat to huge applause just before 10pm. She arrived just in time to catch Eric Clapton play Layla.
Sir Paul McCartney was top of the bill. "Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl but she doesn't have much to say," he sang with tongue in cheek.
Queen guitarist Brian May started the concert with a solo on top of the palace roof. He was followed on stage by stars such as The Corrs, Toploader, Bryan Adams, Tom Jones and Tony Bennett.
Ozzy Osbourne caused a stir with Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Lommi, performing the heavy-metal anthem Paranoid. Ozzy left the stage shouting "God Save the Queen".
Sir Elton John, who is currently on tour in Germany, recorded I Want Love in the Palace Music Room and was shown on the giant screens either side of the outdoor stage.
Beach Boy Brian Wilson was joined by guitar legend Eric Clapton, The Corrs, Sir Cliff, Atomic Kitten and Emma Bunton for a medley of Sixties surfing hits, including Good Vibrations.
Sir Paul's set included one of George Harrison's songs, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, which he played along with Eric Clapton. The Beatles classic All You Need Is Love provided the finale with all the show's stars on stage.
The Queen Wore Earplugs
06/04/02
Ozzy & The Beeb
The venerable BBC, which has been airing the "F-word" for so long it's lost any power to shock, got all coy with its worldwide broadcast of last night's London pop concert marking the Queen's Golden Jubilee. The Beeb
put a 30-second delay on the telecast because it was terrified of what flavor-of-the-month Ozzy Osbourne might blurt out from the stage. Probably right to be concerned - earlier in the piece Ozzy wondered aloud to
the press about what Prince Charles was doing with "that Camilla with a face like a sack of s- - -."
Ozzy & The Beeb
06/04/02
Merchandising
'The Osbournes'
There's no doubt that rocker Ozzy Osbourne and his family have swiftly become cultural icons because of MTV's most popular series ever, "The Osbournes."
Now, the marketers behind the irreverent family's show are hoping that a slew of merchandise tied to the reality series will be just as big. Last month, basic products like T-shirts and mugs hit retailers' shelves, but a wider breadth of items, ranging from backpacks to trading cards
and watches, will be hitting stores, from Kmart to Toys R Us, in the next 30 to 60 days.
"We touched upon an extraordinary slightly different view of family values," said Del Furano, chief executive of Signatures Network, the San Francisco-based entertainment licensing company, which signed an exclusive agreement to develop the merchandise for "The Osbournes," which made its debut March 5.
So far, the company has signed up 55 licensees. Furano expects a total of 70 licensees this year, and projects that retail sales tied to the show will total $200 million this year.
"There's interest for condoms, slot machines and video games," he said.
Family chains like Target and Kmart Corp. as well as toy retailers will be carrying the "edited versions of the family's irreverent attitude," Furano said. That includes T-shirts with slogans like "The Osbournes: The Parents You Wish You Had."
Signatures Network has represented the rocker and The Ozzfest Music Festival in licensing and merchandising for 20 years. That merchandise is expected to generate a total of $15 million in sales this year — $5 million at concerts and another $10 million at stores, said Furano.
The reality sitcom, which depicts the addled rock star, his wife Sharon, daughter Kelly and son Jack alternating swearing and offering their love for one another, drew nearly 8 million viewers at its peak in April. Late last month, MTV announced a second season.
It is believed that the Osbourne family will receive $5 million for the upcoming season.
Celebrities, like the Osbournes, usually receive about 15 percent to 20 percent of wholesale volume of the merchandise. Wholesale volume is typically half of retail sales. That means they could reap between $15 million and $20 million.
Merchandising 'The Osbournes'
06/03/02
Golden Jubilee
Ozzy
Ozzy Osbourne performs at the Golden Jubilee pop concert in the gardens of Buckingham Palace in London June 3, 2002. Patriotic festivities in Britain celebrating Queen
Elizabeth's 50th year on the throne hit a high note on Monday with an all-star pop concert rocking the normally sedate gardens of her Buckingham Palace residence.
Photo by Stephen Hird
06/03/02
Golden Jubilee
Ozzy
Ozzy Osbourne performs at the Golden Jubilee pop concert in the gardens of Buckingham Palace in London Monday June 3, 2002. Around 12,000 members of the public attended a concert hosted by
Britain's Queen Elizabeth to mark the anniversary of her accession.
PHOTO by Stefan Rousseau
06/01/02
Kelly's Finale
Kelly Osbourne ends her performance of her cover of Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" during the 2002 MTV Movie Awards taping June 1, 2002 in Los Angeles. Osbourne, daughter of rock star Ozzy
Osbourne is featured with her family on the MTV reality series "The Osbournes" which provides an intimate look at the rock star and his family at home and on the road. The show will be
telecast June 6 in the United States.
Photo by Fred Prouser
06/01/02
Kelly Osbourne
Kelly Osbourne performs her cover of Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" during the 2002 MTV Movie Awards taping June 1, 2002 in Los Angeles. Osbourne, daughter of rock star Ozzy Osbourne is featured
with her family on the MTV reality series "The Osbournes" which provides an intimate look at the rock star and his family at home and on the road. The show will be telecast June 6 in the United States.
Photo by Fred Prouser
06/01/02
Kelly Osbourne
Kelly Osbourne performs her cover of Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" during the 2002 MTV Movie Awards taping June 1, 2002 in Los Angeles. Osbourne, daughter of rock star Ozzy Osbourne
is featured with her family on the MTV reality series "The Osbournes" which provides an intimate look at the rock star and his family at home and on the road. TheMTV Awards show will
be telecast June 6 in the United States.
Photo by Fred Prouser
06/01/02
Kelly Osbourne
Kelly Osbourne, daughter of rocker Ozzy Osbourne, performs "Papa Don't Preach" at the MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles, Saturday, June 1, 2002.
Photo by Mark J. Terrill
06/01/02
Kelly & Sharon
Kelly Osbourne, left, and mother, Sharon, pose for photographers after Kelly's performance at the MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles, Saturday, June 1, 2002.
Photo by Reed Saxon
MTV Movie Awards
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne, wife of rocker Ozzy Osbourne, poses as she arrives at the MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles, Saturday, June 1, 2002.
Photo by Mark J. Terrill
MTV Movie Awards
Sharon & Jack
Sharon Osbourne, wife of rocker Ozzie Osbourne, poses with her son, Jack, as they arrive at the MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles, Saturday, June 1, 2002.
Photo by Mark J. Terrill
05/30/02
Sued Over T-Shirt Slogan
The Osbournes
Proving that sudden stardom has its downside, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne have been sued for $15 million by a clothing manufacturer who claims the couple stole his T-shirt
slogan: "F--k My Family I'm Moving In With The Osbournes."
The suit, filed Tuesday (May 28) by T-Shirt Hell, Inc. in New York District Court, alleges trademark infringement by the couple and other associated business entities when they
authorized the production and sale of its own shirt with the catchphrase: "*&@# my family! I'm moving in with...The Osbourne Family."
Court documents claim that representatives at Ozzy's label, Epic Records, knew of the earlier shirt before making its own, producing as evidence a series of email communications
from March 2002 between an employee at the label and T-Shirt Hell discussing the purchase of 40 of the shirts. The Osbournes' version was authorized for manufacturing and sale in May, the suit alleges.
Epic Records and parent company Sony Music are also named in the suit, among others.
The Osbournes & T- Shirts
05/30/02
2002 MTV Movie Awards - June 6 at 9 PM (ET/PT)
Kelly Osbourne
MTV: Music Television today announced that Kelly Osbourne will perform her cover of Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" for the FIRST TIME EVER at 2002 MTV MOVIE AWARDS. Ben Affleck, Bow Wow, Vin Diesel, Eve, Jennifer Garner, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Winona Ryder, and Charlize Theron complete the star-studded list of presenters. Hosted by Jack Black and Sarah Michelle Gellar, the eleventh annual awards show will be taped on June 1st at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and will air on June 6th at 9PM (ET/PT).
This year's Movie Awards on MTV.com recorded over 8 million votes, which was up +75% from last year and was the highest number of votes for the Movie Awards online to date. The nominees for the 2002 MTV MOVIE AWARDS were chosen through a national poll of MTV and MTV2 viewers. The winners will be determined by MTV, MTV2, and MTV.com viewers, who have voted from April 23 through May 18 online via MTV.com or by telephone.
It was previously announced that Eminem and White Stripes are set to perform at the 2002 MTV MOVIE AWARDS. In addition, Kate Beckinsale, Nicolas Cage, Jennifer Connelly, Matt Damon, Johnny Knoxville, Mike Myers, Freddie Prinze, Jr., Chris Rock and Will Smith are scheduled to present. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" tops this year's nominee list with six nominations.
Kelly Osbourne is the daughter of heavy metal rocker, Ozzy Osbourne. Kelly proves singing is in the genes with her smash new single "Papa Don't Preach." A re-make of the Madonna classic, Kelly's edgy version of the song was the #1 most added single at radio in its first week of airplay and is already one of the most requested songs in the country. Kelly's debut single will be featured on "The Osbourne Family Album," in stores on June 11 on Epic Records. She can also be seen on MTV's "The Osbournes," which features the real-life drama of everyone's favorite rock-n-roll family. MTV cameras follow the family over several months, at home and on the road, documenting the ups, downs, highs, lows, and the just plain bizarre.
The 2002 MTV MOVIE AWARDS will be available to a potential viewing audience of over 1 billion people via MTV's 35 channels reaching 382.1 million households around the world as well as through syndication. MTV.com will feature convergent as well as original interactive programming.
Tenth Planet Productions will produce the 2002 MTV MOVIE AWARDS. Joel Gallen will executive produce with Salli Frattini serving as executive producer for MTV. Michael Dempsey will co-produce and Bruce Gowers will direct.
The official sponsors of the "2002 MTV Movie Awards" are 7-Up, GM, Loreal, Apple, Evian, Hyundai, Johnson & Johnson, Nike, Visa, Wendy's and Mars.
MTV Networks owns and operates the cable television programming services MTV: Music Television, MTV2, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, TV Land, VH1, CMT: Country Music Television, and TNN, as well as The Digital Suite from MTV Networks, a package of thirteen digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks also operates and offers joint ventures, licensing agreements and syndication deals whereby its programming can be seen worldwide.
Kelly Osbourne
05/30/02
''The Osbournes''
MTV Plugs Into More Ozzy for Fall
"The Osbournes" is officially set to return to MTV next fall -- but just how much coin the cable channel will lay out for the monstrously successful reality series remains open to interpretation.
MTV confirmed Wednesday it has ordered 20 new episodes of the show, which has generated whammo Nielsen numbers by chronicling the mundane misadventures of rocker Ozzy Osbourne, wife Sharon and kids Jack and Kelly.
Numerous industry insiders familiar with the talks said MTV will shell out nearly $20 million for the rights to the new bunch of episodes. MTV president Van Tofler disputed that figure, however.
"The number that's out there is grossly inflated," he told Daily Variety. "We don't get into specifics about contracts, and I hope the Osbournes and MTV both get really rich with this deal."
The Osbournes' reps at Endeavor, which brokered the deal, cited a nondisclosure clause in declining to discuss specifics of the pact. However, insiders familiar with the pact insisted MTV's license fee for "The Osbournes" -- which will be paid to the family rather than a studio -- will end up at $20 million for 20 episodes.
The family made $200,000 for the first season of 10 episodes.
Tofler did confirm the new pact "is not traditional" in structure. Indeed, insiders said the Osbournes now will have full ownership of their series, with MTV a partner in all ancillary revenues, such as DVDs or syndication revenue. MTV will control foreign distribution of the series.
MTV will have "more than" 60 runs of each half-hour episode of "The Osbournes," Tofler said.
By contrast, broadcast networks usually get between two and four runs of each episode. As a result, whatever amount MTV is paying the Osbournes, the network is still getting a relative bargain for a show that at its peak this spring was drawing more adults in the key 18-34 demographic than many network shows.
Sharon Osbourne, who doubles as Ozzy's manager, told Daily Variety earlier this month she and her family were looking forward to filming more episodes of "The Osbournes."
"We're very happy about it," she said. "A lot of thought went into this, and we're happy that we're going to do another one, and that it's going to be with MTV. They've become a part of our family as we've become a part of theirs."
MTV/VH1 Entertainment president Brian Graden, who's widely credited with helping develop "The Osbournes" into a hit, said the series stands as a signature of MTV's success.
"(It's) a perfect example of the kind of creative lightning in a bottle that has produced such pop-culture phenomena as 'The Real World,' 'TRL,' 'Cribs' and 'Jackass,"' he said. "We're looking forward to working with the Osbournes for another season filled with their irresistible humor and unique lifestyle."
While "The Osbournes" has drawn critical raves equal to its high ratings, a few observers already are raising the question of just how long it can remain a pop-culture phenomenon. Some wonder if the novelty of the series will wear off or if the Osbournes will be changed by the added scrutiny the show's success has brought.
Tofler said MTV is trying to maintain realistic expectations.
"I don't think we ever go into any show thinking we'll have the next 'Seinfeld,"' he said. "Things burn brightly and quickly on MTV. We always reinvent our series and genres. We're thinking about what comes next after 'The Osbournes' right now."
MTV has been pitched numerous "Osbournes" rip-offs, but Tofler said the network has no plans to bite.
"We know you can't replicate 'The Osbournes,' and we won't even try," he said. "We'll leave that to others."
MTV is likely to announce a new reality show with rapper/mogul P. Diddy in the next few weeks, but Tofler said it wouldn't be anything like "The Osbournes." MTV also has had conversations with R&B diva Brandy about a possible show, but any such project would not follow the singer 24/7 the way "The Osbournes" are monitored.
New episodes of "The Osbournes" will begin airing this fall, with several original Osbourne-themed specials slated to premiere during the summer.
MTV has continued filming the family during the past few months, following them to major events such as their recent appearance at the annual White House correspondents' dinner. Summer specials could include highlights of that event along with footage from Osbourne's Ozzfest festival tour and what the cable channel calls "a very special dinner with the Osbournes."
''The Osbournes''
05/29/02
MTV Signs For New Season
'The Osbournes'
MTV announced a second season for "The Osbournes" on Wednesday in a lucrative deal that threatens to turn the network into "OzTV."
The reality sitcom that depicted the addled rock star, his wife Sharon, daughter Kelly and son Jack alternating swearing at and showing their love for one another drew nearly 8 million viewers at its peak last month — unprecedented numbers for the cable network.
"It's proven to be a seminal show for MTV," network president Van Toffler said. "Part of the charm is that it was so unexpected, and I believe the reason it works is the juxtaposition of the freakiest, weirdest human on the planet in the most traditional of situations."
The first season consisted of only 10 episodes, repeated relentlessly. Wednesday's deal is for 20 episodes that will begin filming next month and air in the fall.
MTV wouldn't comment on the financial terms. It is believed the Osbourne family will receive $5 million for the upcoming season, with the potential to make much more if the ratings stay high, if the show is sold internationally and if there's wide interest in ancillary products like T-shirts.
"I hope the Osbournes get incredibly wealthy on this show and it works well for both of us," Toffler said.
Representatives for the Osbournes did not immediately return a call for comment. Sharon Osbourne was quoted in MTV's news release as calling the experience "absolutely (expletive) amazing."
The deal has been long rumored, with Sharon and Kelly saying weeks ago that the family had agreed to continue the show. But MTV insisted the complex contract wasn't finalized until this week.
MTV cameras may go on the road with the "Ozzfest" concert tour this summer and do some filming at the family's home in England. But despite security concerns — the family's California neighborhood was inundated by boisterous sightseers — Toffler said the series would be set primarily in that home.
One big difference in the second season will be the family's newfound celebrity. Toffler said it won't be ignored, but MTV doesn't want to spend too much time on it.
"You don't want to take away that organic magic that happens when the dog pees on the rug and Ozzy freaks out and calls Sharon," he said.
The family has moved swiftly to capitalize on the show's success. It has signed a deal with Simon & Schuster to publish two books. Sharon Osbourne has also agreed to be host of a special on Queen Elizabeth's jubilee on MTV's sister network, VH1.
MTV has also had discussions with other celebrities, such as rapper P. Diddy, about similar series, but no agreements have been reached.
Although MTV said Wednesday it will air a series of Osbourne specials this summer, including coverage of Ozzfest and "a very special dinner" with the family, Toffler promised to guard against overexposure. The repeated reruns of the first set of episodes will slow down this summer, he said.
The danger is that a series that rapidly became a sensation can just as rapidly fall out of favor.
"I basically told (Sharon) to hibernate," Toffler said.
New Season For 'The Osbournes'
05/29/02
Working For VH1
Sharon Osbourne
VH1 has picked Sharon Osbourne, the foul-mouthed matriarch of the Osbourne clan, to help pay tribute to a royal matriarch — Queen Elizabeth II.
Osbourne will be the host of VH1's broadcast of the all-star concert celebrating the queen's Golden Jubilee. Osbourne's husband, Ozzy, will perform at the June 3 concert, along
with Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Aretha Franklin and Paul McCartney. A taped performance by Elton John, who will be on tour, will be shown.
VH1 will air highlights from the concert on June 9.
The pop concert will be held in the garden of Buckingham Palace as part of a weekend of festivities to mark the queen's 50 years on the throne.
Sharon Osbourne has become a household name since this year's debut of her family's wacky hit reality show, "The Osbournes," on MTV, VH1's sister network.
Sharon Osbourne
Golden Jubilee Web site
05/29/02
First Series To Rip-Off 'The Osbournes'
Anna Nicole Smith
From aging rocker to embattled Playmate: The first new cable bio series to follow MTV's hit "The Osbournes" will center on Anna Nicole Smith.
E! Networks has greenlit a weekly half-hour reality-based series revolving around the busty model-widow for a late July or early August debut. "The Anna Nicole Smith Show"
likely will air in a 10 p.m. slot on a to-be-determined night.
An E! executive said the network got the idea before "The Osbournes" became a cultural phenomenon.
The series will follow Smith, her teenage son, her attorney and her assistant in their not-so-everyday Los Angeles-based life.
Anna Nicole Smith
05/28/02
Kelly Osbourne
The daughter of stadium-packing rock star Ozzy Osbourne may have a hit of her own soon, covering an artist quite unlike her dad.
Kelly Osbourne has released a remake of Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" as part of the soundtrack album from the family's hit MTV reality series. "The Osbournes," the highest-rated series in MTV history, follows the daily life of dad Ozzy, mom Sharon, 17-year-old Kelly and 16-year-old Jack.
Kelly Osbourne has never had a singing lesson and did not plan on a recording career, but the Madonna fan said she's pleased with the results.
"I was really surprised at how well it turned out," Osbourne told reporters. "When I hear it on the radio, I'm like I still can't believe that I have a song on the radio."
It wasn't supposed to be Kelly's song, though. Her 18-year-old sister Aimee, known as the mysterious Osbourne because of her refusal to take part in the MTV series, picked the song.
"She was originally supposed to sing it, but didn't want to. And it was her idea for me to do it," Osbourne said.
And what does Madonna think of Osbourne's version of her 1986 hit?
"I heard she liked the song but I don't really believe it until, like, you hear it firsthand," Osbourne said.
As for her family's hit TV show, Osbourne said copycat shows are a "stupid" idea.
"People like it so much. It's because it was like a first-time thing. And it was just us being us," she said. "Any other family who would ever do it, they would try and compare it to us, and it might not live up to the expectations that people have."
Kelly Osbourne
05/27/02
Sharon Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne's wife Sharon, matriarch of America's wacky TV family The Osbournes, loves cosmetic surgery – except for lip-plumping collagen injections that left her looking like she'd been punched in the mouth.
She had a stomach-stapling operation in 1999 that helped her shed nearly 100 pounds and admits she's gladly had lots of other procedures.
"I'm like the $6 million woman ... go for it," she says. "What's the big deal?"
But it was nip and tuck after a botched collagen injection 10 years ago gave her a lopsided, deformed look, she tells an interviewer.
"I looked ridiculous, absolutely pathetic," she recalls.
"The injections hurt so much, I only had half the mouth done and said: 'I'm outta here.'
"For two months I had a really big side, you know, one side of my top lip and that was it. And everyone's asking: 'What's the matter with your lip?'
"And I'm saying I'm allergic to tape, trying to come up with an excuse."
Sharon Osbourne
05/26/02
Ozzy's Cup O'Tea
Ozzy has put his real estate agents on the case to find a bigger house for his brood to move into – but it has to be within walking distance of the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Why, you might ask?
Seems Ozzy can't do without a dainty cup of tea at the hotel -- he's there every day.
Ozzy's Cup O'Tea
05/26/02
Has A Boner For Anne Robinson?
Ozzy Speaks
Rocker Ozzy Osbourne has made an astonishing personal attack on Camilla Parker Bowles.
He said Prince Charles's lover, "looks like a horse's ass", and demanded: "Why is he seeing that woman with a face like a sack of sh*t?"
The singer, invited to appear at the Queen's Golden Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace next month, also professed he'd a crush on Weakest Link host Anne Robinson.
He told a US magazine: "I've got a boner for that woman. I like the strictness. Turns me on. I'd give her one."
Ozzy has seen his career revive recently with the American screening of MTV's fly-on-the-wall show, The Osbournes.
The series, which starts here on Sunday, follows the domestic dramas of the former Black Sabbath frontman and his family.
Earlier this month Ozzy and wife Sharon got a round of applause at a charity dinner for President Bush at the White House.
Ozzy Speaks
05/23/02
To Debut In UK This Weekend
'The Osbournes'
The hit U.S. docu-soap which charts the family life of heavy metal rocker Ozzy Osbourne is to air in Britain this Sunday, cable channel MTV said Thursday.
"At Home With The Osbournes," which became a surprise hit in the U.S. earlier this year, follows the day-to-day life of the former Black Sabbath singer and his family in their Beverly Hills mansion.
The series, consisting of 10-half hour episodes quickly established itself as MTV's most watched show in the U.S, attracting more than seven million viewers a week.
A spokeswoman at MTV said talks with several terrestrial broadcasters had taken place but no deal has been concluded yet.
"People here (in Britain) will see Ozzy first on MTV," she said. The show was to have aired on MTV last week but was held up by contractual difficulties which have now been resolved, MTV said.
'The Osbournes'
05/22/02
Wants Show Like 'Osbournes'
Tommy Lee
If "The Osbournes" are bleeped nearly every sentence, imagine what would have to be censored if Tommy Lee got his own show.
The Motley Crue drummer, now a solo artist, told "Access Hollywood" he's in talks to do a show similar to MTV's reality series following the life of rocker Ozzy Osbourne, his wife, Sharon, and their teen-age son and daughter. "The Osbournes" has earned the 21-year-old music television channel its best ratings ever.
Instead of being a home-based show like "The Osbournes," Lee said the cameras would follow him wherever he goes. That includes the road, the hotel, the bus, the massage parlor and the head shop, he said.
He wants to call it "Never A Dull Moment," which is also the name of his new album.
Tommy Lee
05/21/02
Clarfies Osbournes Statement, Means No Ill Will
Ted Nugent
Ted Nugent was the target of the Osbourne family's rage after hearing Nugent's comments about The Osbournes show. Nugent told the New York Post, "I think it's an indictment to the soullessness of modern man that we get a kick out of witnessing a magnificent creature reduced to a blithering hopeless idiot." Nugent says the paper didn't print his complete statement.
"My first comment was that, isn't it fantastic and thank God. I think it saved Ozzy's life that he met and eventually married Sharon--I hope he finally realizes he is married to Sharon--because she really has managed what is left of Ozzy into a wonderful, wonderful, increased quality of life," he explains. "I'm confident that they're sharing it with the best of their ability with their children."
Nugent adds, "However, what is displayed on the Osbournes TV show is what I said it was. Its success could be an indictment to the soullessness of my fellow Americans who don't just watch it because it's funny, because it's not funny when you see people that have a scattered shambles of a life like that. And they can criticize me and make fun of me for killing Bambi and all that other vacuous transparencies. But I wish nothing but the best for the Osbournes."
Nugent wants to get on the phone with Osbourne to clear the air and to try to get Osbourne and family pointed in the right direction. "I would like to speak to Ozzy personally about it because I mean no ill will," he adds. "What I mean is strictly a good will and offer any advice that even a feeble guitar player may be able to offer, but it's all I have. So I would like to offer what I have and that is that he should really, really make every effort to steer his children away from drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and fast food, all of which seem to be entering their lives and I think they're going to pay the price for it."
Nugent adds that he's a huge Ozzy fan and he goes out and buys his albums, but he hates to see the effects of what drugs have done to the heavy metal legend.
Ted Nugent
05/20/02
Sharon As Mrs. Robinson?
The Osbournes
Ozzy Osbourne spawn Jack says his mother, Sharon, started playing Mrs. Robinson to his friends when they were at the tender age of 13.
"I think it was my friend Ryan," he remembers. "We were sitting in the kitchen eating dinner, and my mom comes in, lifts up her shirt and goes, 'Ryan, do you think I'm sexy?' And I was like, 'Oh my [bleeping] God.'"
The Osbourne clan insists in the new Interview magazine that reality as they know it on MTV hasn't changed them. But sister Kelly admits to a new empathy with Britney Spears. "I used to think, 'Why the [bleep] is she complaining? She has everything she wants! What a brat!'" she says. "But I do think it's one of the hardest jobs in the world."
For darling Kelly, who sings on the show's soundtrack and might strike a record deal with Epic, success seems even sweeter since it's still eluding her older sister, Aimee, who had the dignity to remain off-camera.
Singing "is what Aimee really wants to do, and it kind of fell in my lap," says Kelly. "If I was her, I would feel like [bleep]."
Sharon As Mrs. Robinson?
05/18/02
Hostilities Escalating
Osbourne & Nugent
Heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne and his family would be well advised to keep their flack jackets handy. Red-blooded rocker Ted Nugent has got them in his cross-hairs.
Nugent and the Osbournes have been trading verbal potshots folllowing disparaging remarks the veteran rock guitarist made about "The Osbournes," the profane and wildly popular MTV reality series about the private life of Ozzy, his wife/manager, Sharon, and two of their three children.
It began with Nugent quoted in the New York Post this week as saying of the show, "I think it's an indictment to the soulessness of modern man that we get a kick out of witnessing a magnificent creature reduced to a blithering hopeless idiot."
During a press conference Thursday, the Osbournes retaliated. Son Jack Osbourne said that the Michigan-based Nugent, who's known for his avid hunting, is "hardly a (rock 'n' roll) god right now. He's got nothing better to do than to hunt an animal in a forest with a bow and arrow."
Daughter Kelly Osbourne called Nugent "jealous" of her father's success, while Sharon Osbourne railed that she would "cut his (penis) off" if she ever met Nugent.
Ozzy, himself, said Nugent is "a great guitar player" but added, "I don't agree with the way he (hunts)...I don't spout off about him. I respect him very dearly as a musician."
On Friday, Nugent told Reuters he regards Osbourne as "a nice guy, a kind guy, a pleasant guy" but stuck by his opinion that "The Osbournes" "is the manifestation of self-indulgent poisoning, and it's ugly."
"I hope he's happy," Nugent went on, "but I hope there's not too many people who are stupid enough to pursue that kind of lifestyle, because it'll kill you or turn you into a blathering idiot like Ozzy. The reason he's so successful is everyone wants to see a train wreck -- but on one wants to be in one."
The Osbournes recently said they have signed on with MTV to do two more seasons of their show, reportedly for $20 million. The Black Sabbath singer kicked off a European tour on Friday and plans to launch his annual Ozzfest heavy metal tour of North America on July 7 in Bristow, Va.
Nugent will be on the road in Europe and North America throughout the summer.
Osbournes & Nugent
05/17/02
Contract Hitch Delays British Premiere
'The Osbournes'
The British debut of MTV reality show "The Osbournes" on Sunday has been pulled due to contractual issues, a spokeswoman for the television station said on Friday.
The show features former Black Sabbath star Ozzy Osbourne, infamous for once biting the head off a bat during a live concert, bumbling around in his Beverly Hills mansion.
Osbourne's wife and manager, Sharon, as well as his daughter, Kelly, and son, Jack, also star in the TV show which has gripped audiences in the United States.
"MTV would like to apologize for any inconvenience to our viewers and to reassure you that "The Osbournes" is well worth the wait," the spokeswoman said.
The series, consisting of 10 half-hour episodes, first hit U.S. screens on March 5 and quickly established itself as MTV's most watched show, attracting more than seven million viewers last week.
Observers are divided on whether the show, with expletives bleeped out, is a hilarious real-life look at a rock-star family.
Fellow rocker, gun enthusiast and radio personality Ted Nugent recently said the show is "an indictment to the soulessness of modern man that we get a kick out of witnessing a magnificent creature reduced to a blithering, hopeless idiot."
The series, which a number of UK terrestial channels want to screen, will still be premiered on MTV, the spokeswoman added.
'The Osbournes'
05/16/02
Jack, Sharon & Kelly
Sharon Osbourne (C), wife of musician Ozzy Osbourne, poses with her son Jack and daughter Kelly in New York City, May 15, 2002. The Osbourne's announced that they are releasing
a new album called 'The Osbourne Family Album' next month. The album features both old and new songs from all of the family members.
Photo by Jeff Christensen
05/16/02
Ozzy Quote
Ozzy Osbourne opining on "The Jerry Springer Show": "There was this transsexual who f - - - ed his sister's husband, or whatever the f - - - these people do, and I'm saying to Sharon, 'Where do they find these f - - - ing people?' This guy had his d - - - cut off. I couldn't watch it, man. It was like watching talking trash cans."
Right. So speaks President George Bush's favorite artist.
Ozzy Quote
05/16/02
Osbourne, Not Osborne
Not that he's angry, but a businessman says he would like to stop being confused with an aging heavy metal star who bites bats.
Web-surfing fans of Ozzy Osbourne's popular TV show have lately been leaving hundreds of messages on Jennings Osborne's personal Web site.
"The messages start off 'Hey dude, love ya,'" Osborne said Wednesday. "I get very few messages that start off with 'Hey dude.'"
Osborne site manager David Bazzel thinks fans search for "Osborne" and click on Jennings' site without thinking, even though the names are spelled differently.
Osborne decided to delete the older messages because he doesn't think they fit in with his site, which includes photos of his family vacationing at Graceland and tailgating at University of Arkansas football games.
"It's no profanity or anything, but you could just tell immediately it's not for me," he said.
Osbourne, Not Osborne
05/15/02
Rosie Jokes
Ozzy's the Dad
Ozzy Osbourne already has three children with his wife, Sharon, but Rosie O'Donnell joked on Wednesday that the heavy metal singer also impregnated her girlfriend.
When Katie Couric asked on the "Today" show whether the father was singer David Crosby — the sperm provider for Melissa Etheridge's two children with ex-girlfriend Julie Cypher — O'Donnell quipped, "It's Ozzy Osbourne, actually."
O'Donnell is a huge fan of "The Osbournes," the MTV series that goes inside Osbourne's home life, and often shows clips on her talk show.
Her longtime girlfriend, Kelli Carpenter, is due to give birth in December. Publicist Cindi Berger declined to say who helped with the artificial insemination.
"I'm thrilled," said O'Donnell, who already has three adopted children. "When you adopt a baby, you never get to do the first few months. ... It's very overwhelming. It's fascinating."
Couric interviewed the comedian on the set of "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," sitting behind the desk while O'Donnell sat in a guest's chair. After a six-year run, the talk show's last episode is set for May 22.
Ozzy's The Dad, Rosie Jokes
05/15/02
Rocks on Family Album
Kelly Osbourne
Like father, like daughter?
First, millions of television viewers witnessed the daughter of heavy-metal rock icon and heavily tattooed Ozzy Osbourne display her first tattoo, a pink heart above her hip, on the MTV reality show "The Osbournes."
Now Kelly Osbourne, the 17-year-old with the fuchsia-colored hair whose clubbing and sibling rivalry with her 16-year-old brother Jack are seen on the hit television show has recorded a song.
She sings Madonna's 1986 hit "Papa Don't Preach" on the Osbourne Family Album, a collection of the family's favorite songs that will be released on June 11 by Epic Records, just a few days before Father's Day.
"I chose the song Papa Don't Preach because it's like I'm handing the torch on to my daughter," Ozzy Osbourne, the former Black Sabbath lead singer, told reporters at Sony's recording studio in Manhattan on Wednesday via a video link from Britain.
Daughter Kelly, son Jack and wife and manager Sharon sat on velvet sofas at the Sony studios, with Ozzy's video image piped in via satellite.
The Osbournes appear in an MTV show shot in their mansion in Beverly Hills, California. The show, which debuted on March 5, is MTV's most heavily watched ever. Last week, more than 7 million viewers tuned in to the half-hour show.
The family's album also features previously recorded tunes such as their former neighbor Pat Boone's version of Ozzy Osbourne's hit "Crazy Train" and John Lennon's "Imagine."
Originally, Osbourne's 18-year-old daughter Aimee, who has decided not to appear on "The Osbournes," was slated to sing Madonna's song.
"It was never something that I thought I'd ever do and I guess I do owe it to my sister," said Kelly Osbourne. "She suggested, along with my brother, that I do it, and I really enjoyed doing it."
Viewers are divided on whether the show, with expletives frequented bleeped out, is a hilarious look at the real lives of a rock-star family or depicts the mutterings and excesses of a man made mentally shaky by his former chemical habits.
Fellow rocker, gun enthusiast and radio personality Ted Nugent recently said the show is "an indictment to the soulessness of modern man that we get a kick out of witnessing a magnificent creature reduced to a blithering hopeless idiot."
Osbourne's family, hearing Nugent's comments for the first time on Wednesday, offered a stinging rebuke.
"Tell him to go back into the (expletive deleted) sausage factory," his wife said.
"I think a lot of it is jealousy," added Ozzy Osbourne, who once bit the head off of a live bat on stage. "My life has been full of sticks and stones. If Ted Nugent has an opinion, fine, I don't agree with the way he goes out and kills wildlife for no reason at all."
Kelly Osbourne
05/15/02
Great Quote
Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne is coming perilously close to respectability. First the demonic rocker schmoozes with President Bush in Washington. Then former Veep Dan Quayle
hails him as a model husband. Now Queen Elizabeth has invited him to perform at her Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace on June 3. "I'm not proud of everything
I've done," the venerated ex-Black Sabbath star has said on his MTV show. "I'm not proud of all the drugs and booze, or biting the head off a few animals. But I
was young. ... Still, it could be worse. I could be Sting" ...
Ozzy Osbourne
05/13/02
Ozzy Osbourne
Heavy metal rock legend Ozzy Osbourne, famous for biting the head off a bat in his younger days, will play for Queen Elizabeth at a concert for the 50th anniversary of her accession, Buckingham Palace said on Monday.
Osbourne and Latin pop idol Ricky Martin are the latest stars to join the June 3 pop concert in the gardens of Buckingham Palace which is part of the culmination of the Queen's Jubilee celebrations, royal spokesmen said.
Already confirmed to appear are stars such as Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, Elton John and Paul McCartney.
Ozzy Osbourne
03/04/02
BartCop Entertainment, Monday, 4 March, 2002
01/24/02
BartCop Entertainment, Thursday, 24 January, 2002
Still Seeking Volunteers
'The Osbournes'
Couple of nights ago, put up this page.
C'mon....send your thoughts, your impressions, your views, your favorite quotes...
Send it to Marty
( SuprmChaos@yahoo.com )
Or send it to this Marty
( SuprmChaos@aol.com )
Or send it to this Marty
( SuprmChaos@hotmail.com )
You can even send it to this Marty
( Marty@suprmchaos.com )